


Seeing Red

by MumSnake



Series: Child of Scarlet Flame and Blacken Void [8]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Acid Burns, Burns, Gen, Monomon the Teacher (Hollow Knight) - Freeform, Other, Post Dream No More Ending, Violence, and Post Grimm Troupe Ritual
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2019-10-13 19:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17493491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MumSnake/pseuds/MumSnake
Summary: This isn't how this was suppose to go.This isn't how the Child wanted their day to go.They really didn't think that it could had gotten any worse but boy did they prove themselves wrong.





	1. The Resting Grounds, The Dreamers' Monument

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after Her Legacy and All that's Left.

The Child had been gone for a long time.

Quirrel nervously tapped a finger against his knee, trying not to worry about their tarty charge as he tended to Monomon's grave. Naturally he also cared for the graves of the other two Dreamers, but they didn't stand as immaculate as Monomon's, they didn't look as well cared for and anyone who came to visit the Dreamer's Monument would be able to tell that special attention and far more time was spent on the Teacher's grave.

Quirrel bought a cloth back up and started to wipe down the grave once again. Mist from the Blue Lake and dust from the Crystal Mines would sometimes accumulate on the graves one way or another. There had also been some snow from the Kingdom's Edge that managed to scale over the walls of the Resting Grounds.

“ _That's not snow Quirel.”_

_Monomon looked down at him with a glint in her eyes, she voice teasing with amusement while watching him kneel down to examine the substance that accumulated on the ground. He tilted his head at her in confusion, the question perched at the tip of his tongue as he rubbed some of the snow between two fingers._

_The texture rough, odd, stiff in his hands, also weird, oddly light in weight as if it didn't have any, which is curious._

_Quirrel brought the small sample close to his face, scrunching his eyes into a frown to look more closely at what could pass as snow from a distance but..._

“ _Ash?” Quirrel looked up at his mentor for confirmation, but Monomon, the fiend that she can be, refused to give him any signs of whether he was right or not. He pouted in response to her silence and stood to look up. It wasn't falling from the overhead clouds but rather from behind the high mountains._

“ _It's coming from beyond the Kingdom?”_

“ _Perhaps.” Her response was light and he could hear the sly smile in her voice, still amused by his confusion but as he turned his attention to his mentor, she turned to face him with a questioning look. “Should we go and confront this mystery then?”_

_He tightened his grip on his nail and gave Monomon a large open smile that stretched to his eyes._ _“Nothing would make me happier.”_

Quirrel let out a loud sigh at the memory and lifted his head to look at that the bust of Monomon's Mask on her grave.

“I should probably feel grateful to have shared and now remember some precious moments with you, my Mentor, but I must admit...

His voice quieted down and Quirrel brought his hands up to cover his mouth. He felt a chill run down his back as he took a deep breath.

“I must admit, Teacher, that I fear what atrocities remain lucking within my past. The things I would had witness, helped in committing even, all for the sake of preservation.

“We were desperate, I know, everyone was, in particular the King, but that is no excuse for-” His voiced hitched a little as he recalled a shrill scream from some point in his past, but couldn't place it yet.

He hoped that he never would really.

A low breeze found its way through the graves and Quirrel noticed the faint dampness in it, probably from the acid waters at the Kingdom's Edge. He stood on stiff legs as he took in the darkness of the approaching night and the absence of his darling Child.

“Its too late.” He muttered to himself as he strapped his old nail to his side and ran off towards the tunnels that led down to the underground burial chambers. The Child had found a path from there that led to the Kingdom's Edge and then a short jump that opened up to the entrance of the Colosseum of Fools. Quirrel leaped down into them and dashed forward, past a few Belflies who wondered in from the Kingdom's Edge. He sharply exited the tunnels and hurried towards the Colosseum, already hearing the ravenous screams of the audience's cheer and feeling more on edge then moments before.

 


	2. Colosseum of Fools, The Challenger

“OH! Challenger!”

Quirrel skidded to a stop as he ran through the entrance of the Colosseum of Fools. As he came to a stop, he glanced back and saw that one bug who was always hanging from the ceiling. That bug wiggled in its chains, one of its hands moving in a gesture that Quirrel couldn't make out.

“This way! Come over here! Challenger!!”

Quirrel gripped the handle of his nail with his left hand and held his right hand right above the handle, ready to draw at a moments notice.

“There's no need for that here, Challenger! Out in the arena is where you'll need to be prepared.”

“I'm not here to fight.” He marched up to the hanging bug, still ready to draw just in case. “I'm looking for someone, they should be with the Champion.”

“Ohho, the little larva? That one did wonder into here some time ago.”

“Where did they go?”

“Up to the stands, but the Glorious God Tamer intersected the little bug.”

“So where is the God Tamer now?”

“Is it not obvious?” The hanging bug nearly whispered to Quirrel, a crooked smile that held far too many teeth slowly formed on its face as the loud roars of the audience broke through into their conversation. Quirrel felt dread crawl all over him as he sprinted away from the hanging bug and launched himself at the gate that opened up into the arena.

The God Tamer struck through her opponent with her large nail, a clean hit straight through the middle. She pushed her weapon further in and pinned her target against the wall, they let out a bloodied cough that rained down onto their chest and her nail. Even without seeing her face, Quirrel knew that the God Tamer wore a vicious smile as she twisted her nail to draw out another cry from her opponent and a cheer from her crowd. Their blood spilled onto her armor from the hole in their chest and their gaping mouth and with a loud growl the God Tamer ripped her nail through their side. Bones and meat jerked out with the nail from the messy cut as more blood and mass spilled out of the quickly dying bug. She rose her bloodied nail up to the crowd and they applauded her victory as if she were the Queen herself.

Quirrel felt himself go cold as his arms held onto the bars of the gate. The God Tamer's opponent was some kind of spider, probably a beast from the Deepnest, but Quirrel only cared for the fact that the Child wasn't the one fighting. He allowed himself to let out a slow and shaky breath, he leaned his head against the gates and willed his heart to steady itself.

He still had to find his child.

“CHALLENGER!” Quirrel jumped at the shout. He felt the gates in front of him open and the light of the arena lit up to reveal the God Tamer in front of him. She threw off her helmet as she approached Quirrel and he clearly saw the wild look in her blown out eyes. Blood had seeped onto her face from the holes in her helm making her look more monstrous then she ever should. She pointed her bloodied nail at him with a grin that exposed sharp fangs surrounded by still wet blood and waited for the crowd to quieted down.

“Challenger! Come, step up and meet me in the glory of battle! Prove yourself to these **fools** around us and show them what it means to fight as a worthy fight!”

“I-” The bugs in the audience toned out Quirrel's hitched voice as they screamed from the stands, he couldn't make out what any of them were saying as it all blended together to one giant booming noise. He felt more dread spread through his bones, but he held himself tense and ready even as his hands began to shake. The God Tamer at least seemed to be coming down from her high as she waited rather patiently for Quirrel's response.

“I'm not here to fight.” he spoke through the crowd, hoping the God Tamer would hear him.

“Not everyone is when they first come!” She started a slow pace through the arena, never taking her ravenous eyes off him. “But they always do in the end.”

Quirrel held his head high and clenched his hands over his nail, not messing the way her eyes were drawn to the motion. He kept himself from drawing the weapon however, despite the uneasy feeling her staring was causing him. “I'm just looking for my Child.”

Her eyes widened for a moment and she stopped her predator's pace. As she stilled, the crowd died down to a near sudden silence that quickly overcame the arena and made Quirrel feel uncomfortable.

She tilted her head and with more grace then Quirrel thought her possible in her near feral state, the God Tamer stood her large nail on the ground next to her in an opposing stance but also noticeably not as aggressive as before. The God Tamer seemed to recollect some sense of herself as she studied Quirrel carefully. He felt his nerves spark up more and more under her new gaze, he felt that if she had merely demanded a fight from him and charged head first, he would had been far more prepared.

But now she was scrutinizing him with hard eyes and the crowd started to pick up on the changed in her attitude. Cries from the watching bugs were getting louder and louder demanding for the start of a fight, but just as they were getting brave the God Tamer turned her ferocious gaze up to her audience.

“This fight is postpone! Leave now and await the next challenge.”

A small chorus of boos reached Quirrel and the God Tamer, but the audience did as they were told and started leaving the stands. As the stunted sounds of feet surrounded them, Quirrel braced himself and took a few cautious steps towards the God Tamer. She smoothly turned to face him, her expression cold but not uncaring under the drying blood that still covered most of her.

“I was not aware that the little one had come to visit.” Her voice was tight and low, she didn't want anyone but Quirrel to hear her words, but that did little to reassure him.

“What do you mean you didn't know they were here?!”

“I have been fighting since before the morning even rose, in what little breaks that I've had no one has come to greet me from within my quarters or tell me about any visitors.”

Quirrel felt more dread fill him as the God Tamer spoke. “The bug hanging from the door had said that you ran into them when they entered the Colosseum.”

“As I said, I have been in the arena for most of the day. I am not the one who took the little one.”

“If not you then who-” Quirrel cut himself off and glanced around at the mostly empty arena. He was just about ready to start panicking and calling out for the Child but a better more controlled part of himself steeled his resolve to locate his charge as soon as possible. But as Quirrel swirled around to leave from the arena, he didn't stop berating himself on how he had been so naive as to let the Child come to the Colosseum by themselves like this after what happened with Hornet and...

“I see your mind working there and I can sense your resolve,” The God Tamer came to walk step by step with him, her voice was low again and Quirrel didn't like the soft tone she was using. “But I too care for the little one to some extent and can offer help where you clearly are in need of it.”

Quirrel stopped and turned to face the God Tamer with a harsh glare, only to be met with that same crooked smile she gave him when she challenged him to a fight. He saw the fire that burned in her eyes and knew exactly what she was going to suggest.

Still, he dared to ask her, “And what would you want in exchange of that help?”

If possible, her smile turned more crooked and thinner. Her sharp mandibles glistened with blood from her previous kill and her eyes seemed to widen with a hunger fitting only a deranged creature.

Should he really risk this?

“Who knows for sure how long your child has been missing, with my assistance, the Colosseum can be searched and scavenged in a matter of minutes and the little one with the culprit will be found and brought to our attention, all for the price of one round in the arena.”

If it means finding his Child...

“Deal.”

 


	3. The Kingdom's Edge, Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is where the story's summary came from.

This isn't how this was suppose to go.

This isn't how the Child wanted their day to go.

They really didn't think that it could had gotten any worse but boy did they prove themselves wrong.

The Child let out a ball of scarlet embers towards the ground with more force then necessary with a frown that just screamed frustrated.

It was suppose to be a good day today. One where they, with their Guardian's blessing, would be able to go out on their own to visit the Colosseum of Fools to watch some spectacular battles and then see the God Tamer in all her glory doing what she was best at doing and they would be stunned by her performance in battle and her mastery of both her craft and the audience, as they always were.

But no, that _thing_ , the Child spat at just the thought of it. Of how it came from nowhere and practically dragged them away from the arena and eventually the Colosseum with such a death grip that the Child won't be surprised if they had some scratch marks on their arms and back. How it wore a strange imitation of the God Tamer's battle gear and practically spirited them away into some unknown corner at the Kingdom's Edge and while the Child was able to escape the clutches of the mad bug after a lot of fidgeting and scratching of their own, they were now lost.

Alone and lost, and it was getting dark.

The Child dramatically tilted their head back and let out a cry of frustration this time as they slowly walked towards a ledge. They looked down into a large crevice, multiple openings and jagged out corners protruded from the environment which marking numerous ways that the Child could go, but they didn't know which would lead them back to the Colosseum. Not to mention that white stuff that was constantly falling from over the mountains kept coating them should they stay still for too long. The Child brushed a hand over their head to swipe some of it of as they remembered some bugs who came to visit graves at the Resting Grounds talking about it, calling it ice that fell from the sky. Even some bugs at the Colosseum of Fools said that the stuff was as harmless as a small drop of water.

Quirrel had laughed lightly when he heard the bugs at the Resting Grounds and out right cried in laughter when the Child told him what the bugs at the Colosseum thought. Their Guardian had told the Child that both were wrong and when the Child looked up at him with large shining eyes, Quirrel's laughter turned from mocking to something that was incredibly gentle, promising to tell them what it really was later.

Then again, Quirrel never did tell them what that stuff really was.

The Child looked up at the darkening sky, the light from the far off sun quickly fading and they started to get a worrying feeling that caused a small whining to escape them.

Quirrel was no doubt freaking out by know.

The Child lifelessly sat down on the ground and wrapped themselves tightly with their wings and their favorite gray cloak. Quirrel had actually handed it to them just before they left, telling them to be carefully and to be back before night.

They tried to wrap the cloak more around them when they heard a soft tearing sound and quickly stopped. The Child looked down at the cloak and notice a hole on one of the sides. Their eyes widen in disbelief as they started at the hole for a few seconds before quickly taking the cloak off and inching their head close to the fabric to examine it more closely.

They squinted at the hole in the cloak, how it stretched both cloth and color unevenly and noticed that it wasn't just a hole, but rather a cut. They spread the cloak carefully over their hands and tried to think back as to when it could of possibly...

That thing.

When that thing came and dragged them way, one of its roughly clawed hands must of cut through the cloak.

The Child scrunched the cloak tightly in their hands, though still careful as not to damage it more, their eyes burned a deep scarlet as fire rose further and further up their being. The Child growled out a ball of scarlet fire in quickly building anger.

_That damn pale thing!_

Even after that thing forced the Child out into this pale, empty, godless place, it **dared** to damage something so precious to the Child, something already so delicate to handle!

The Child stood up from their sitting perch with renew energy. They could feel the Scarlet Flame burning brightly inside them, wanting to be used, to be released and exposed. They quickly looked around themselves as scarlet fire flickered violently from their breath and their eyes brightened to a crimson red.

_It will pay._

 


	4. Colosseum of Fools, Hole in the Wall

“This is a not good.” The God Tamer mumbled to herself from her kneel position, but Quirrel still heard her even as the blood started to rush through his ears.

True to her word, the God Tamer had taken command of the Colosseum and interrogated every bug, beast, and creature that would had seen the Child and whomever had taken them. Most answered to her with hardly any resistance, heads down and hands empty within her view. Quirrel might had been impressed with how much control she actually possessed as the Champion of the Colosseum if he wasn't already aware of her bloodlust.

Her interrogation led the two of them to a somewhat small hole on one of the upper levels of the Colosseum. The hole that looked as if it had been bashed through from the outside mainly, but some rocks where scattered past the hole as if whatever had squeezed right through the hole struggled to go back through. There was hardly any light passing through as well, which helped in concealing the makeshift entrance.

“Do you know where this leads out to?” Quirrel tried keep his voice as steady as possible. The God Tamer stood up and turned to him, her helmet back on and glare in her eyes. “I wasn't even aware that this was here; it **shouldn't** be here in fact.” She spoke through clenched teeth and Quirrel noticed the hand that held her nail tightened just a bit.

The God Tamer turned around to the crowd of bugs that had gathered behind them. They stayed a reasonable distance away from the two of them as the God Tamer led Quirrel through the resting area questioning bug after bug and as they eventually came to the springs and the hidden hole within the wall, a sizable following had gathered to listen in on the two of them. Now however, as the God Tamer turned her harden glare and undivided attention to them, they began to cower away from her with small whimpers.

But she won't have that.

“DO NOT RUN FROM ME NOW!” She roared over them, shutting out their small cries and causing Quirrel to cringe behind her. The God Tamer seemed to tower over them all as they stopped and listened to their Champion.

“Who here knew of this?” The God Tamer stood over them all and waited for a response, her eyes narrowed more and more as she scanned one after the other. Hardly any of them dared to match her stare, but not a single one came to answer.

Quirrel saw her fist twitch at her nail again, he could only assume the anger that she would be throwing at the others. He understood that she saw this Colosseum as her own, and therefore anyone within it and part of it were under her jurisdiction. Quirrel figure that she would take anything happened within it that she wasn't aware of as a personal offense, but he didn't really want to watch a would be ruler reprimand those under her.

He slowly walked to her side, hands on his nail and more than ready to draw should it be needed. He moved to be just within her line of sight and quietly spoke. “This could wait for later.”

The God Tamer seemed to refuse to acknowledge him as she continued to stare down the others. It wasn't until a few more aching seconds that he heard her loudly inhale and then turn to look at him. Her eyes still screamed for blood but he met her back with a fierce determination that grew more and more as time went on.

Quirrel needed to find his Child, and the God Tamer will not stop him.

Her sudden laugh though, would make him pause. The God Tamer let out a short curt laugh before turning back to the hole on the wall. Quirrel could feel her smile and bloodlust glee focus on him again.

“You've nerves to challenge me like that.” She gave Quirrel a side eye sneer, her grip on her nail moved as she brought it up, ready to strike. “I _so_ look forward to our fight.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing for the God Tamer, also things might slow down from here in terms of updates.


	5. The Kingdom's Edge, Found

The Child let out a raspy breath of fire that ignited the walls around them with dancing shadows. The few primal aspids that dared to follow them into this cavern shrieked with their dying breaths as they worlds were painted with scarlet colors and eventual dark. Their bodies charred into husks of a different kind, molted into a dark gray that crumbled with the slightest touch, most of them falling apart as whatever was left of them fell to the ground in soft thumps.

_Hmmm_

The Child caught their breath and straighten out, their wings folding around them easily without any hint of strain or trouble. The Child supposed that could mean that the wound they got from Queen Hornet all that time ago was now fully healed, eve if the scar still remained, but the thought was quickly pushed aside for later. They wanted to find that damn thing that whisked them away from the Colosseum of Fools. Although they currently had no idea where they were other then somewhere in the scaling cliffs of the Kingdom's Edge, the Child did know that when they were taken by the pale thing and were eventually able to pushed away from it, they fell some distance away from the Colosseum before gathering themselves and floating to one of the open ledges.

With only that as a hint of where to go, the Child went up, searching every cave for any sign of the pale thing and every high looking spot that seemed to have a good enough view to see the backside of the Colosseum.

But as it turned out, there were quite a few open caves that could see at least some side of the Colosseum of Fools. The Child could only just barely see the top of the arena from most of the places that they checked, and the only information that really gave them was that they were approaching the Colosseum at a slugs pace. Not to mention that they would have to find the tunnel that the thing went through as well to go through the mountains, least they resort to completely climbing over one of the incredibly tall mountain.

The Child spit out a harsh ember in annoyance, that pale thing caused them so much needless trouble. The thought of just trying to get back to the Colosseum came to mind...

_But still..._

The Child was still furious, and all this searching and looking and failing to find it was only making them more frustrated. They looked back and forth through the cave they currently were in and, after determining that it had nothing of interest further within, swiftly turned around and stormed right through the charred ash of their fallen enemies. Out at the lip of the cave, the Child glanced up at the sky and notice for the first time how little light there was outside. It would quickly be night and even with the few stray lights that lit up darkness in the sky, heavy clouds were quickly covering whatever stray lights they could while large shadows from the surrounding mountains overcame ever else.

The Child gave a small huff of a breath before leaping off the edging and flying upwards. They could see a few more caverns and cave openings just above them, but the Child figured that maybe this time they would just try for the one at the highest point.

They still gave the other caves a few passing glances though. The Child wanted to make sure that they didn't mess anything as they flew and jumped higher and higher up the cliff, just in case something caught their attention.

_Just in case..._

They flew towards one tight enclosed spaces that seemed to mark the separation of two different mountains and latched onto the wall with claws fully extended, their wings folding inward easily as they hung from the wall and climbed steadily for a few paces, before kicking off with more pressure then needed and jumping backwards to the other cliff. They quickly lunged and dug their claws into the side of the wall, easily finding purchase and once again moved up until they reached an edge, but didn't pull themselves up. The Child instead perched their feet onto the side of the wall and lifted their head just enough to peaked over the edge.

It was there.

It was sitting there, crouched over something and twitching every now and then.

The Child almost couldn't believe it. They dared not move as their eyes latched onto the back of the pale thing, the Scarlet Fire burning brighter and brighter as the world around them drowned out to just the pale thing that dared to attack them, that dared to cut their parent's cloak, that **DARED** to try and take them away from their Guardian.

_ITS THERE!_

The pale thing stilled, its back straightening out and the Child held their breath. Everything seemed to stop at that moment and the Child could feel the seconds slip by as the two of them remained unmoving, unable to do anything for what seemed like so long.

Then it turned its head, just enough to look back and as the Child saw one of its blank and crazed eyes come into view, the Fire within them erupted out as everything within them screamed to charge forward.

Scarlet Fire enveloped their body as they kicked off the cliff and jumped onto the ground while the pale thing turned to run off, but the Child wrapped in flames launched themselves forward and easily closed the distance with a dash from their Scarlet Cloak, becoming a wisp of scarlet fire that traveled impossibly fast and through the pale thing. They landed perfectly in front of the thing, surprising it into stumbling backwards as the Child straighten out to stand over it. They burned brightly with the Scarlet Fire that made up their essence dancing all around them, their eyes a bright bloodied red that focused in on the pale thing that shrunk under their gaze and coward backwards.

The Child felt a hint of glee and amusement from the fear that they saw coming from the pale creature, but it was quickly ignored for the rage of fire that burned at the tips of their claws. With no hesitation, the Child extended both hands forward, aimed at the pale thing on the ground. Their wings extended outward as a massive ball of crimson fire concentrated within their grasp, casting dark shadows everywhere and tinting the world around the two of them into scarlet colors.

The thing stared at the fire for a second with a wide and strange look before it started to clumsily picked itself up from the ground and run.

But the Child was ready for them, and just as it turned to leave, the Child released the Crimson Shade, their hands were pushed back as the flaming ball launched forward with a howl screech, burning everything in its path as it charged forward with impressive speed, leaving a trail of scorched rocked just before finding an impact and erupting on impact.

The Child heard that pale thing scream in pain as the cave around them turned into heated stone and scarlet fires, and they just couldn't help the small smile that started to grow.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think of Crimson Shade as the Knight's Shade Soul, just red with some black and way more volatile and on fire.  
> Child also has to charge it a bit.


	6. The Kingdom's Edge, Guardian's Duty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added a new tag, and another is soon to come with the next chapter, but not till then, don't want to spoil what happens too much.

Quirrel looked up at the dark night sky and grimaced. It wouldn't be safe to try and search the mountain tops or the valley below in the dark. The terrain itself was treacherous already during the day with the light of the sun, doing so with the absolute minimum to no light seemed absolutely insane. But he couldn't just go back now, he couldn't just turn around when his Child was out there somewhere with gods knows what creatures that inhabited the Kingdom's Edge at night.

Not that Quirrel thought that they would purposely look for trouble or try to fight something well beyond their limits and strengths in a place that they've never really been to in the dead of night...

“Then again, the Knight did have a habit...”

“What was that?”

The God Tamer turned just so slightly to glance at him from over her shoulder. She was knelt down by one of the ledges, wanting to look down to try and spot anything that seemed out of place. Quirrel couldn't help but wonder if she ever left the Colosseum of Fools and would therefore be able to tell if anything was even different from the usual. He then got a strange sense of familiarity from the thought, memories of Lurien the Watch up in his hightower over the City of Tears, never coming down least it was in regards to the Pale King.

Quirrel hummed to himself in thought and shook his head. Although he always held the impression that the God Tamer not only thrived within the Colosseum but shunned the rest of the outside world, he doubt her situation any as similar to Lurien. Even if the God Tamer certainly acted as if the world outside her Colosseum wasn't worth knowing or mentioning, which is something that Lurien would had done.

Did she even have time to wonder freely through the Kingdom's Edge? Quirrel doubted it greatly, but he wasn't about to say anything like that out loud.

“It was nothing,” Quirrel straightened his back and with another quiet shake of his head, crouched near the God Tamer. He wanted to peek over the edge, just to try and see anything, but the lack of light was already making it more then difficult to see more then a few feet below.

“Actually, you wouldn't happen to have a lumafly lamp, would you?”

“We don't need it.” The God Tamer stood up and glanced down at him.

“Its already dark and the clouds have blocked out any light other from the sun from getting through.”

“Just watch your step.” She walked a few feet away from him, still close to the ledge as she looked down towards what Quirrel thinks is a pool of acidic water. “From what I can guess by seeing how you moved all those times you came to visit, by watching how you hold yourself within the Colosseum, and from how you look now,” Quirrel started to grimace again and slowly moved his hand just over the hilt of his nail as he slowly moved to follow her. He could swear he could hear the grin on her face as she spoke, but really he could only see the craze look appear in her eyes again. “You're rather quick on your feet.”

He didn't want to encourage her anymore and just stayed quiet as he looked pasted her.

They were rather close to the Colosseum still, in some kind of branched off and falling apart structure that could had been apart of the Colosseum once before. But everything was old and in ruin, broken apart and seemly forgotten. Quirrel felt another sharp sense of familiarity looking at it all, his more recent memories of scourging the lost and abandon Hallownest floating loosely at the forefront of his mind. It was almost surreal, he felt as if he had taken a step into the not so distant past where he was both more and less himself.

He heard a pair of soft, light steps move away from him and he turned to follow it, half expecting to see...

“There's a path down there, near the pond.” The God Tamer's voice shook him out of his trance. Quirrel blinked a few times to steady himself and then quickly went to follow the Colosseum's Champion. She lept from the ledge of the cliff to slide down the mountain side just before jumping onto a small patch of land that Quirrel hadn't even seen before she landed on it. He looked down at her and then the acidic water, unsure on whether to just blindly follow her down when the God Tamer crouched down to her stomach and slide under the wall.

She was gone before he even had a chance to say anything.

Well, he hadn't the time to really think long on any of this.

Quirrel tried to channel some strength and maybe some blind courage as he tightened his off hand on his nail to hold it in place and jumped down head first and shoulders squared from the cliff. He arched himself forward and kept his arms close to his body as he picked up speed falling, but just as he felt the small shocks of acid from the mist that floated above the water, he flipped backwards to arch his legs against the cliff's wall and pushed off just as quickly, flinging himself to the small land the God Tamer had landed on earlier. With practice control, Quirrel rolled with his impact and quickly brought up his hands to stop his body from colliding with the jagged cliff wall.

As his hearing stopped ringing and his heart beat calmed down, Quirrel let out a short breath of air he had been holding in and slowly dropped his hands down to his side. It really had been a quite a while since he really had to do anything like that. Despite what the God Tamer seemed to believe and the small amount of practice that he did pick up again, he didn't feel as swift and nimble as he was before when he was still an adventurer.

Quirrel braced himself against the side of the cliff and looked around him to get his barrings again, the hole that the God Tamer had crawled under right under him and “... dangerously low to the acid water...” Quirrel noticed now that he was near the hole and the water. He was starting to wonder if he could even fit under there-

“ **SSSHHHHHRRRRRRRIIIIIIII!** ”

A piercing cry echoed from the other side of the wall, a cry that startled Quirrel into jumping a few inches and nearly knocking him into the water.

“God Tamer? Hey!” He called to the other side of the wall then crouched down to the ground near the hole with a frown. He really wouldn't be able fit through that which means the fastest way through would be through the water...

“I see movement from one of the caverns.” He just barely heard the God Tamer's muffled voice from the other side of the cliff. Was she whispering perhaps? “There was a flash of red light as well, I'm going to see what caused it.”

“Wait! Don't just leave what if its... Tamer? Champion?!” Quirrel tried to call back to her, but he heard her footsteps move further and further away and as he strained his ears more he heard her jump up and maybe there was also the sound of... scraping? Some kind of scratching against rock and stone.

Quirrel pushed himself up from the ground and glanced down at the acidic water with wide eyes. His shell had always been rather soft, with him being more of a scholar than anything in his previous life and a caretaker in his current one. Sure, he had reinforced some of it before when he had journeyed around Hallownest as an adventurer, and sure, he partly lived in an area that was surrounded and arguably drowning in the stuff but that didn't mean that he frequently went diving into acid water. He never even expected that he would have to submerge himself into something as damaging as the acidic water that ran through the Kingdom, thinking that he would just be able to move around it.

“ **SSSHHHKKKKAAAAAAA!** ”

Another scream pierced the otherwise silent valley, one that sounded far too much like the Child for Quirrel's liking. He didn't know what was happening over this wall and he knew that he couldn't trust the God Tamer completely and if that really was the Child screaming...

Quirrel braced himself as well as he could.

The pain was instant from the moment he touched the water's surface and only continued to grow more and more as he went further down under water. Quirrel had to really restrain himself not to cry out from the pain while within the water. He felt as if he had been lit on fire right under his shell, the horrible sensation nearly completely numbing his other senses until the pain just became a constant burning. He more flailed in the water then swim, going to where he thought the surface was in order to get out of the water as quickly as possible. His hands brushed against something rough and he clung to it as his lifeline, focusing intensely to it and desperately reaching out to hopefully pull himself out of the water. His head broke the surface with a sudden snap and he hurriedly pulled himself out of the water.

He blinked his eyes opened when his whole body was out of the water and took a moment to just try and breath through the burning sensation that lingered throughout his body. Quirrel felt his body scream from the burns, shivering from the pain more then anything and with a quick look down at his arms, he couldn't help the small frown he made from seeing small patched of angry reds and sickly yellows that bubbled over him, not doubt covering other parts of his body. He knelt there trying to regain something through the lingering pain when a bright flash of red popped off above him. Quirrel looked up as quickly as his head would turn, but he couldn't see anything from where he was. With a deep breath, he lined towards one of the cliff's sides and brought his hands up to braced himself on the wall and to slowly stand up. His body shook as he went up, his legs threatening to give out, but Quirrel took in another breath of air, held it in for a few long seconds and then released it. Everything still hurt and his body still shook as if a strong gust could topple him, but he needed to focus his mind to the what was important at the moment.

These burns could wait for later.

Quirrel let out an extremely shaky breath, he needed to prepared himself to walk forward and continue on until he found his Child. He gave a quick look around where he was, the pool of acid water was much smaller here then on the other side. It looked more like a cave then anything else with the only other way to go being up. There was an oddly tidy looking place just a few feet away from him, a pedestal looking structure right in the middle, maybe a shrine?

But no God Tamer anywhere in sight.

He gave a glance to the hole above him, it didn't open up all the way to the sky but a makeshift lamp was hung all the way at the top, a lamp that wasn't lit. He could just barely make out some openings in the sides of the cliff, the God Tamer likely having gone into one of them. And if he waned to either follow her or search this area, he would have to get up there somehow. Quirrel took a small moment to relax however much he could in his current condition before reaching out to grab his nail and slowly unsheathe it. He stood as tall as his burning back allowed, normally he could just jump from wall to wall to climb up but with all these burns he'll have to use his nail to-

“RRRRRAAAAAHHHH”

He looked up just in time to see a white creature falling towards the water, head first and arms flapping wildly. Quirrel acted instinctively as he moved forward, his burns and the pain pushed to the back of his mind as he squat down and pushed off the ground with reckless speed, he reached out with his free hand and snatched one of the limbs of the falling bug from the air as they passed each other and with practiced movement Quirrel latched onto the cliff wall, using his nail as a hook and his legs to stop his body from slamming into the wall. Quirrel sharply inhaled from the whole display, his body not liking his decision to move so quickly so suddenly, but he pushed that pain as far back as he could and decided to look at his newly caught baggage. The other bug still flailed even his grip and despite Quirrel being the only thing stopping it from crashing into the water. It kicked with its other leg and seemed to throw its arm around in every direction, which made it incredibly difficult for Quirrel to hold onto.

“Come now,” He said with a strained voice, the pain from the burns was crawling back to the forefront of his mind and the constant movement of the other bug really wasn't helping. “Sto- Stop moving so much, or I will dropped you and that's really not something that you...” Quirrel trailed off as he noticed that the bug was actually sporting some rather nasty burns itself over the chest area and covering most of one of its arms. Unlike his red and yellow bubbly burns however, it's were deeply burned to the point of looking like black-tinted soot.

He squinted his eyes at the odd wound, saw how the burned arm was not exactly moving as freely as the other was.

“ABOVE YOU!” Quirrel heard the God Tamer from somewhere above him and looked up as best as he could from his perch on the wall.

He half expected to see the God Tamer just above him, maybe charging at him maybe not. A rather pessimistic part of him thought that something else would be coming for him, something monstrous perhaps, dangerous enough to burn to the point of ash at least.

And it wasn't the God Tamer that he saw looking down at him, but it wasn't the monster that he had expect either.

A creature with bright, crimson eyes floated just above him. Large scarlet wings flapped soundlessly around a petite body that shared the red undertones. Their horned head colored scarlet as well and Quirrel could just make out the deep set of fangs that appeared from their mask like face.

In that moment, Quirrel felt as if everything came to a stand still.

Even through the blaze of crimson fire that burned throughout their body, Quirrel knew that he was looking at his Child.

But from the hollow red eyes that burned furiously back at him, he didn't think his Child was looking back at him.

He didn't get a chance to try, to really say, anything as the Child dashed at him with a fire-engulfed fist and fire in their eyes.

 


	7. The Kingdom's Edge, Startle Awake

He felt strange.

Small.

Diminutive.

Restless. Urgent. Distressed.

Awkward, unprepared, surprised, awestruck, fatigue.

**Burnt Out and Frustrated and Impure-**

Impure.

Yes. That is it.

This iteration of himself was... impure, it would seem.

How needlessly difficult, but not unexpected considering the past host.

The Nightmare King scoffed from disgusted and possibly from annoyance as well, not that he normally liked to dwell on such small emotions to properly name them.

A waste of fire better used in passionate expressions and-

Speaking of small things that didn't warrant his attention...

A squeak of a plea came out of the burning thing that he had thoughtlessly captured and now held down. The Nightmare King had, for lack of a better understanding, awoken up charging after the thing, his claw extended for the grab following a trail of fire that had already created a path on the ground. He didn't think twice of it though, after spotting his target and went to move with elegance that only **he** could perform; with a twist of his body in a beautiful flaming spiral as he made contact with the pale thing, claws digging deep into the pale creature's flesh with no trouble, burning at the touch and digging deeper and deeper as the poor thing squirmed more and more.

It was hurting itself really, with all that moving and struggling.

He drifted up gracefully into the air and lifted it with both power and poise before hurdling the creature down to the scorched earth with a snap of his wrist. He went to aim a few fireballs at his target, but much to his surprised it was not just the Scarlet Flame that begin to conjoin in his grasp. In an instant, he felt the emptiness of the Void pull itself into his attack, and for but a moment the Nightmare King felt something akin to a heavy dark curtain he saw as fear as darkness gathered more and more, but the Void made no move against him or the Flame. It instead moved with him, his unknown partner in this newfound act and together they danced in his hands nearly perfectly, Flame and Void.

“aahh,”

“Oh, dear me.” He blinked himself out of his trance and looked down to the ground to where his target had been. The little thing had crawled away, towards an edge as he had been taken by the beauty of his new abilities.

“Perhaps all is not lost then,” he thought aloud, a clawed hand coming up to cup his face as he slowly sauntered his way past monochrome ash and burned soot. The thing was right at the edge now, not that it really mattered if it fell down or accepted what was to come. This would all end the same way-

“HAH!”

A slim figure lept from the cliff's edge and charged, nail first right at the Nightmare King. He side-stepped the thrust, a flair of reds and blacks as it phased right past his right wing. The Nightmare King skipped back a few steps, his arms drawing close together to wrapped around himself as he took in just who had interrupted him.

The bug had easily recovered from from the missed charged and now stood facing him, nail held out in front and a low stance ready to strike or run, he would guess, but it did not charge at him blindly as it stood there watching him. But even in its pause, the bug still oozed with confidence and such assurance in its abilities, the Nightmare King could not help but wonder about the bug and its potential. What a fantastic addition this one would make to his troupe, a fierce warrior to match the Flame. The thought of such a thing started to being a cruel smile onto his face, but he hadn't even noticed it until he saw the bug tense further. He tried to hide it behind a clawed hand while schooling his features to a more neutral one, it would do him no good to get ahead of himself so quickly.

No, he should play this out slowly. Small embers that licked past the armor of this battle ready warrior, test its might against his claws and its tenacity against his newly acquired Void perhaps. It was rather patient already, waiting this long so that he would have to be the one to set the tempo of this dance.

And who was he, really, to deny the leading role in any performance?

But if this dance was going to happen, he preferred a far more worthy audience.

“So its decided.” He spoke softly, voice low and intended to pull others closer in its delicacy. And he saw the other bug react just as such, a small shift in movement, a lean towards him to catch those words and the squinting of eyes just barely noticeable from under the helm trying to understand.

But he moved before it had a chance.

The Nightmare King dashed towards the pale thing that was left to cower at the edge of the cliff, ash flying past him and scarlet embers falling from him in a trail of fire as he readied a blazing uppercut. He stretched out his claws as he neared the poor creature, its dull eyes just now widening in realization in what would become of it but any reaction from it would be far too late. Still, it tried to moved to back away from him, away from this reach, away from his flames, but it won't be enough as his claws will quickly find their target, latching onto the pale thing and _**finally kill that despicable waste of a shell kidnapping**_ -

“ **BOOM”**

**A** nail came smashing straight into the ground, shattering it slightly, but still burying itself a good ways in as the warrior bug from before threw all her wait and strength into the blow. The Nightmare King quickly skittered away from the blow and watched as the warrior bug braced herself on the broken floor. He couldn't help the tilt of his head as he watched her change her grip on the weapon until she flung herself away from him, the nail easily following after her, and onto the sides of one of the other cliffs.

He stood to his incarnation's full height and opened his mouth, a smirk already in place and more then ready to commend the warrior for her display of power and agility, but it wasn't looking at him.

He frowned. It was looking down, and...

The pale thing.

Could it had fallen from the warrior's attack? And yet still hold the warrior's attention?

The Nightmare King face fell to one of displeasure, his fangs clamped tightly with a menacing growl and claws clutched tightly in annoyance.

Was he not the lead in this would-be performance?

Then why would the warrior focus so much on that _**irritable, disgusting pale thing!**_

The Nightmare King let out a low hiss and charged over the cliffs edge, flames trailing after him like scarlet rain as he dived down with a quick turn and a masterful shift of his wings and he could see it! The pale thing, now burned dark and red from the Scarlet Flame's wrath and soon to be ignited into nothing but soot.

He reached for it with fire in his claws and a burning desire in his eyes. This one attack would be more then enough, the Scarlet Flame roared at him, he only needed to reach out...

“Hmp!”

It moved.

The Nightmare King slammed straight into the cliff's side with a sounding hit, small embers bounced out along with shattered and melted rock and fell down into the acid pond in a splashing hiss. The flames that engulfed his claws sizzled against the earth under it, creating far stretching shadows all around him in the already dark mountain sides. But they only held for a moment longer as the Nightmare King eased down the flame and allowed the fires to slowly cool to soft flickers of light. He brought his wings over his body as one would do to an elegant cloak and slow rose from the hole he made on the cliffs side.

The Nightmare King turned around swiftly with a flare of small fires trailing his wings, His eyes squinted to a hard glare as he looked down to where that pale thing had escaped.

Or rather, he looked down to this new bug, this new would-be performer who thought it wise to interfere with his performance. This newcomer who had the audacity to appear before him already burned and scared from something more of Root then his flames, and yet still stand there with such conviction to rebel.

To mock one such as the Nightmare of Dreams, the Living Scarlet Flames? Why, such a hideous act could not go unpunished, now could it?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of this whole AU, Grimm and Nightmare King are two different beings entirely with their own intentions and desires that differ from one another.   
> Didn't want to mention it before, as its a GIANT spoiler, but now you know.


	8. The Kingdom's Edge, Hesitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, I'm not currently working, I don't feel exhausted constantly, let's finish this part up!
> 
> (Next chapter will probably be out in a week tho)

“Hmp!”

Quirrel gathered all of his strength into his legs and pushed off the side of the mountain as quickly and as accurately as he could with the extra weight in his arms. He aimed to land near the small alter that he had seen earlier when he first came up from the acid water, but the added weight of the bug and the burning from his burns threw off his landing just enough to give him a half second of fear. He really didn't want to end up in the water again, but the thought was blown out of his head.

**BOOM!!**

A blast from behind pushed him forward and Quirrel struggled to regain his balance in the air. He at least wanted to land on his legs instead of his side least he agitate his burns even more. He turn to look behind him just before he met the ground, his legs buckled under all the combined weight and he held in a cry of pain and tightened his grip on the white bug that now stated as still and small as possible while curled around his arm. Quirrel brought the bug closer to him to center his balance as he skidded on the stone against ash and small rocks and came to a slow and clumsy stop. He then quickly detached the white bug from his arm and tossed it further down to the alter as gently as he could.

He didn't want it being anywhere near him or...

He looked up at the spot where he was perched against the cliffside just a few seconds ago and... well, Quirrel still isn't all that sure as to what he is looking at.

The creature certainly looked like his Child; same size, same old scare from where Hornet attacked them, but the color of their shell was off. Their head was always a dark color, not exactly black but close enough to be mistaken for it while the shell on their body was a vibrant red, always visible from far if it wasn't covered by their wings. However, the color on their abdomen had seemed to fade somewhat after the Child was attacked by Hornet; not as vibrant and not as red around the dark scar, but that never really diluted the overall brightness of the rest of their shell. And their eyes, always so red and bright and alive. Quirrel could see the questions that burned in his Child's red eyes, their curiosity a near constant presence within the scarlet orbs burning with the Child's own passion.

But now, a creature looking like his Child with harsh reds that colored their shell and a hard, empty stare was looking at him and Quirrel honestly didn't know what to do.

Then it charged.

Suddenly and straight at him with terrifying speed, Quirrel only had time to see an extended claw reach for him, covered with blazing flames that lit up the darkness around them in violet streaks of Scarlet lights. Quirrel lept to the side as fast as his legs could manage, feeling the heat of the fires pass by him as it charged right by. He stumbled to stand and turned to face the creature with his nail at the ready. It twirled in the air in a flourish of an uppercut and held itself high up above the ground, and seemed to freeze.

As the creature looked at Quirrel, he took the chance to stand up and ready his legs again. It squinted its eyes and even tilted its head just slightly to the side, as if curious about him and Quirrel got the intense feeling of being inspected. The emptiness in the red eyes slowly watched him as if trying to figure out something, something it didn't understand. The red eyes glanced slowly and methodically over each swollen and colored burn that littered over Quirrel's body.

Quirrel took the moment to relax somewhat and started to think that maybe it won't lunge at him again.

Maybe it was his Child after all?

_Then how did this happen? What had happen?! How-_

Quirrel stopped himself before the thoughts could really take hold. He had to focus on a possible attack right now, worry about everything else later. And if he didn't have to fight, if neither of them had to fight, it would be for the better.

He moved his nail down slowly to a nonthreatening position at his side and looked right at the dull red eyes of the creature that looked far too much like his Child to be anything else.

With a quick breath of air Quirrel braced himself and nearly whispered, “My Child? Is, is that you?”

There was a stutter in the air, everything was quiet for what felt like a incredibly long time and Quirrel felt as if he couldn't breathe, he wouldn't try to in fear of breaking through the pause that settled over the two of them.

The creature, his Child, looked at him with unseeing scarlet eyes starting swirl with rising questions, a tilt of the head to the side full of confusion, arms starting to shift down to its sides in a less aggressive fashion as they floated down to stand on the ground. They looked down at the stone beneath them and then quickly looked over to the side of the mountain it had crashed into moments ago, to the scorch marks on the ground where their fire had left a burned trail and finally one more time to Quirrel, looking again from one burn to the other with but now with large eyes that burned with passion and fear.

“Oh Child,”

Quirrel wanted nothing more then anything in that moment then to reach out and hold his Child close, to tell them that he was fine and that his his burns were not their fault, but as he took one step forward their head snapped up and their eyes squinted shut. The Child furiously shook their head in their hands, the dark fire from before burning again all around them.

Quirrel cursed as the flames started to erupt from the Child erratically, as if possessing them. He brought his nail back up and watched as the fires started converging in their hand as they readied another attack. The Child glared at him with a hard snarl briefly painted across their face before a cruel smile replaced it. The fires flickered brightly once in their claws and Quirrel couldn't help but notice the particularly dark spot that started to grow within the fireball they charged within their grasp.

Quirrel really doubted that he would be able to block anything thrown at him and braced his legs for another side step. He would have to move quickly and surely now that retaliating was out of the picture. Any misjudged moves could mean the end of him in his current state and he didn't dare make any aggressive moves against the Child.

_So it would be best to avoid-_

“ **HAAA!!** ”

Both of them looked up to see the God Tamer charge at the earth, her nail held before her and aimed to pierce the Child's head. A flash of red light ignited around them, followed closely with the _**SMASH**_ of the God Tamer's thrust as bits of rocks and ash flew in all directions and Quirrel thinks he felt some flickers of embers as well as he curled down within himself to blocked the debris with his arms, ignoring the sting of irritated burns. As the small dust cloud settled, he notice the God Tamer regain her stance, her nail held tight and her body tense as she turned at the ready towards the pond of acidic water, where the Child had dodged to and now flew above.

Quirrel took the moment to settle himself near the God Tamer, his own nail at the ready and the pains of his previous burns pushed out of his mind once more. He started to wonder again whatever could had caused the Child to end up in such a state. He knew they were something of a wonder back when Ghost had asked him to care for them. He tried to be as open minded as he could on what the Child would ended becoming, but as they were now spewing terrifyingly scorching fires with no restraint or care as to who was hurt a small sense of doubt started to settle in.

_More thoughts for later._

As they are now, the Child extremely dangerous in their current state to everyone and everything around them and as their Guardian, as a protector, Quirrel can not allow them to simple be.

“You need not strain yourself.”

He jumped a little and turned to his side at hearing the God Tamer's voice. She spoke quietly, and as he glanced at her, he noticed her eyes focusing ever so slightly straight ahead. Refusing to take her eyes away from the Child as she tightened her hold on her nail and moved to brace herself on her hind leg.

There was something familiar in her straight and tunneled gaze and it wasn't something that reassured Quirrel at all.

He looked back over at the Child, they remained floating above water but with scrunched up eyes as if in pain.

Quirrel felt some panic start to crawl into him at the sight of them, _They hadn't been hit yet..._

The Child gave out a small gasp as if under stress and started to lose balance in the air before trying to quickly right themselves with furious and uneven flapping with their wings. They looked as if they had been affected by something somehow and now struggled to regain themselves. The once confident presence that had attacked everything and everyone before now appeared to be leaving the Child rapidly.

“Something's wrong.” He spoke more to himself, but the God Tamer still replied.

“That would appear to be so,” He could hear her breathe next to him, unusually loud but her voice remained steady. “and it will no doubt helps us.”

Quirrel sharply turned to her with something similar to disbelief, _she couldn't be serious..._

The God Tamer now held herself up with a different type of reassurance and confidence then what he had seen when she found out about the breach at the Colosseum and decided to come with him into the mountain sides. Then, she was more akin to a leader in appearance and attitude. The Colosseum that she claimed as her's to own and to control had been breached and plundered. And as the undisputed Champion, she was the authority that decided what would happen and how it would happen in regards to her Colosseum, those who resided within it, and those who saw fit to defile her arena.

Now at the bottom of this hole within the mountains of the Kingdom's Edge, she no longer stood as leader of the Colosseum who could earn even some respect from Quirrel, but as the battle worn Champion of the Colosseum of Fools.

The God Tamer stood with the complete confidence of an experienced warrior ready to take on her next foolish opponent. Attention focused and her body ready to strike at any given moment, the God Tamer looked at the Child as they were now struggling and losing control and she saw the way to victory against something that was more then perhaps any other opponent she's ever faced off. She wanted more then to simply fight the Child head on in their current state; she wanted to make them bleed from her nail, to make them kneel before her and regard her as The God Tamer that her name claimed herself to be.

She wanted to conquer them in battle, in a complete and absolute victory.

Her body tensed up, her arms bracing as her grip tightening and loosening constantly on her nail, eager to charge into battle, ready to start the fight. But she held herself back, her mind not completely gone to the madness of her title and she steadied herself right next to Quirrel. She'd seen what the Child was capable of doing and she'll be damned if she gave them the advantage from being reckless and making the first move.

But she was still ready to move, ready to strike. If she wanted to win against the Child it had to be soon and Quirrel could see her resolve take shape as all forms of hesitation vanished from her being.

Quirrel still struggled with the revelation of just how unstable the God Tamer was becoming so quickly, a part of him feeling as if he should of known better then to expect her not charge forward as she was preparing to, but against his Child...

A fluttering sound caught his attention and he turned back to the Child just in time to see them hover down towards the ground, just at the edge of the water. He heard the God Tamer take a deep breath in now.

_She's going to attack!_

He didn't have anymore time, but he had to stop her now!

“Wait!” He threw himself at the God Tamer as she took one step forward. His right hand caught her arm just before she moved to step out of his reach and he jerked her back towards him and away from the Child with a hard pull.

“Ahh,” The God Tamer stuttered back to him, but caught herself quicker then Quirrel would have liked and roughly freed herself from him. “What do you think you're doing!?”

“Listen to me.” Quirrel started with more authority then ever before. The God Tamer recoiled slightly from the force in his voice but quickly gathered herself with a hard glare now aimed at him. He briefly looked over at the Child and noticed them also looking at him. Their eyes were still off, still brighter and dull, but their wings now hung over their body as more of a blanket covering them for comfort and less of an elegant cape that they had before.

He didn't want to hurt his Child or take an chances of potentially hurting his Child. More then anything, he just wanted to hold them close and know that they were fine. He needed the God Tamer to listen, he needed her to know that there would be no room for argument this time.

“That's my Child. Something isn't right, and more than anything right now, they need help.”

“So we help.” She nearly whispered to him but it came out too harsh to be genuine. The God Tamer shifted further away from him as she readied herself once again into a battle stance and drawing the Child's attention.

“We can't be rash with this.” He tried to warn her, but Quirrel could feel the tension in the air rising around her, ready to burst out and unleash gods know what.

She can't be reasoned with.

“So trust your instincts.” The God Tamer called out in a commanding voice, as if she were within the Colosseum announcing over the cries of the crowd cheering for her to start her next match.

“Don't hesitate,” she smiled again as her eyes grew from the anticipation of battle.

Quirrel readied his nail, he knew he was faster then both her and the Child in regards to speed and he would not miss.

The Child's eyes widened with something more akin to shock and the quickly started to fumble with their hands as they tried to draw fire to them.

“And don't get in the way.”

 

 


	9. The Kingdom's Edge, Inner Struggle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be honest, this chapter was supposed to be like 2 paragraphs.
> 
> Next chapter should be out about a week's time.

Everything was dark.

The Child couldn't see anything, they couldn't feel anything.

Everything was dark and it was quiet and it all felt so _**wrong**_.

The Child tried to pull, tried to push, tried to move really in any way that they could think of but nothing was working and they just felt so numb and-

“ _Hush,”_

Something spoke out to them, and they tried to look around the darkness for the voice but their head didn't move, couldn't move completely tied up as they were.

“ _Hush now small one.”_ There was a light, sharp and bright that nearly blinded him as it sparked to life in front of him, right over his chest. _“You have played your role for long enough; served for far more then your purpose originally meant.”_

The voice came from the light and it... felt familiar, but the Child couldn't for the life of them place a face to it. It felt comfortable and bright like the light, no a fire. It was a fire that burned just before the Child but it didn't light up the area around them even as its scarlet fire flickered vibrantly.

The Child felt as if they should listen the fire, to him- whoever was talking.

But something still felt so off...

The darkness that crowded the Child seemed to further curl around them. Slowly as if possessing patience of a parent, impossibly smooth tendrils started to wrap around and grab hold of their arms and wings. A calm started to seep into their conscious, their eyes seemingly falling close as the voice from the fires lulled them to sleep...

The darkness held the Child still as another tendril came from the unsettling nothingness and slithered around their head.

“ _Sleep now, and never...”_

The darkness wrapped more and more around the Child and they still couldn't find it in themselves to care. There was a small tug and the darkness started pulling them now, pulling them down and down, just further down at such a terribly slow pace, the fire's voice grew lower and softer, the lighted now flickering as if it would be put out...

NO!

The Child jolted awake, the scarlet flame jumping up as well, the essence of their being reignited. The darkness was still pulling them down deeper away from the flame but as the flame sparked up with their renewed attention, they felt themselves more within its grasp. But the tendrils held on harder to the Child causing them to grimace and the scarlet fire twitched into a shade dimmer then before.

They were scared now.

The Child felt themselves tremble. They were so scared, they didn't know what was happening or why and they just wanted to see their Guardian again.

The wanted to see Quirrel.

They wanted-

“My Child? Is, is that you?”

The Child snapped their eyes open at his voice.

They wanted to see him and he was **here.**

Quirrel was always there for them, he always came to save them when they were in trouble. Quirrel always came for them when they needed his help.

The Child blinked their eyes rapidly, more then sure that they would start crying out of relief. Quirrel was here for them, to save them and...

And, where are they? The darkness was gone, they hadn't even felt the tendrils leave didn't even notice when light came back but where were...

Stone seemed to surround them, stone that was heavenly scorched and burned by some intensely hot fire. Turning around slowly, behind them a hole had been burned into the side of a cliff by the impact of something relatively small but hot. The Child felt their breath started to come out short as they turned once more around and saw Quirrel.

Quirrel, their Guardian, burned terribly and completely throughout his whole body. Horrible burns swollen red and yellow and angry and vicious and _everywhere_ that the Child could see. He had his nail out and ready by his side and the Child could feel a burning fire within them far more intensely then ever before.

The burning fire, the Scarlet fire that made up their being pulsated deeply and rapidly from their chest demanding attention, but they couldn't look away from those burns that littered Quirrel's body.

Did they...

Could they had...

“Oh Child,”

“ _ENOUGH!”_

The voice ripped through the Child and torn through their head. Bright light shined from nowhere and as the Child made to hold their head and cover their eyes, something held against their limbs once more.

They blinked their eyes open frantically but no matter how many times their blinked their vision didn't clear. A blinding red covered their world now, as if trying to drown them out.

The voice spoke again, it tried to lulled them again as it had done before, but the Child refused to listen. They refused to just give in no matter whatever it was that called to him.

Their Guardian, Quirrel was hurt.

So badly hurt and they needed to get to him.

They had to help him.

 


	10. The Kingdom's Edge, Escalate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next few chapters might take longer then what is preferred.
> 
> One of them's gonna have a fight scene tho!

The God Tamer sprinted forward, her lance held out to the side, aiming for a wide sweep at the Child's abdomen. Quirrel rushed forward, his own nail held up and poised for a thrust attack to intercept her. As much as he did not like or fully trust the God Tamer, he didn't completely detest the Champion despite all of her faults. But if it came between his Child, possessed or not, and the God Tamer he wouldn't hesitant to stop her.

Her lance came sharply in a large ark meant to strike against the Child but Quirrel came before her faster then she could of predicted and met her attack. Quirrel could only see her eyes widen with surprised as her nail pushed against his with far more power then he had anticipated. Quirrel grounded his teeth to hold in a gasp of pain as the pressure of her force strained his burns. He tilted his own nail just so and glanced the attack off to the side away from himself and the Child. As the God Tamer's Nail struck the ground and shattered the stone, Quirrel felt an eerie sensation pass through him and looked down just in time to see the Child phase through. Darkness quickly enveloped him and Quirrel slide to the side in a vain attempt to move out of the way from the falling embers that followed the Child.

The Child slid forwards in their wisp-like form, past the blade of the God Tamer's nail and shifting through the pole-arm in a misty darkness. The reds of the embers that clung to the Child highlighted their ghastly features as they charged through the God Tamer herself. Fires gathered in their clutched claws before they quickly turned around and threw the flames out in an arch in front of them as them leaped into the air, raining down fireballs over Quirrel and the God Tamer.

Quirrel couldn't help the gasp that slipped through as he quickly side stepped away from the hail of fire. _Where did she go_ , he thought as his feet hit the ground, he needed to find the God Tamer before-

Quirrel caught just the split image of bright red as fires seemed to erupt before him and Child appeared in front of him. Neither the empty eyes he saw before or the emotional eyes of the Child looked at him now. Burning reds of anger and fury threatened him as the thing that possessed the Child swiped an inflamed claw at his head. Quirrel quickly brought his nail up and slashed the hand away while taking careful steps backwards.

This was different from before, far more dangerous. He needed to gain some ground between them.

Whatever it was possessing the Child at the moment hissed out at him, their eyes now glowing a blinding red with far more intensity then ever before as they shifted forwards, once again moving through Quirrel. He turned quickly to follow the Child 's movement as small embers fell around the two of them. The Child flapped their wings out, flickering away the lingering shadows and flames before wrapping the wings tightly around themselves and oddly puffing out in a wide and bloated fashion. Spikes rise up from all around their body as scarlet fires start to gather and move around them, flying through the air and quickly gaining speed.

Quirrel righted himself to stand up and moved to avoid each and every fire ball that flew near him. Each turn he made, another ball of fire came from another direction that had him bending over backwards to try and dodge it, he couldn't seem to find a moment to stop and catch his breath as each fire ball came one after the other from all around him.

“HA!”

Quirrel looked up just in time to see the God Tamer come flying down from above, the force behind her nail pushing through the fireballs that floated between her attack and her target. She leads her nail down, directly on top of the Child and as they look up, Quirrel could see their eyes widen in surprised. They swiftly unravel themselves from their cloak like wings, extinguishing the fireballs in the air, and blocking the God Tamer's attack. Their hands and wings holding onto the God Tamer's nail right at the blade and quickly wrapped around the pole as the God Tamer jerked her nail back in an attempt to free her weapon. He heard a hiss come from the Child as they seemed to tighten their hold, dark flames now dancing along the blade of the lance, down the pole and towards the God Tamer.

She let out a gruff of air and gave another harsh pull to try and free her nail. Some of the dark fires fell from her struggling but the Child remained still and determine, focused completely on seeing the God Tamer burn.

But she still refused to relent and with a growing scream the God tamer gave a hard jerk towards the Child, the blade now shifted from cleaving the Child from the top down to hovering terrifying close to their face. She wanted to run them through with the tip of the lance's blade and end it there.

Quirrel startled at her voice and shook himself to attention. He tightened his hold on his nail and gave himself just a half second to breath as he tensed up and charged his nail.

His speed couldn't be matched easily, and his aim always true. He felt his nail meet the hard shell first and he pushed it further in until he could feel it piercing straight through flesh, smoothly sliding all the way through.

“AARGG!” The God Tamer screamed out in pain. Quirrel dug his legs in the stone and quickly jumped back from the God Tamer, his nail following him as it slide out from the wound he made in the middle of her left thigh. He braced himself for any sudden attacks from either the God Tamer or the Child but both of them seemed to be stunned in place. The Child release the God Tamer's nail and folded back from the two of them, their arms hanging loosely to their sides and their eyes narrowed as they looked between the God Tamer and himself.

The God Tamer staggered backwards, thrusting her nail into the ground and bracing herself against it. The wound on her leg bled steadily as she reached to it with her off hand to brush against the hole Quirrel's nail had entered through. Blood spilled into her hand as she pressed against it, her body starting to tremble, and Quirrel had a terrible feeling that it wasn't from the injury.

“You...YOU-” The God Tamer snapped up and faced him, her eyes wide with new found fury and, somewhat shockingly to Quirrel, disbelief. Her body tensed up like a coil ready to spring forward as she roughly pulled her nail out from the stone and with a twirl lifted it high above her head, arm stretched back in a practice arch.

_She's gonna throw_ it. He thought and readied himself, keeping his eyes locked on her nail waiting for the right moment to move aside from her lunge.

A bright red light suddenly appeared from the corner of his eyes and as Quirrel turned just the smallest bit to chance a glance-

FLOOSH

Quirrel flinched back and away from the blast of dark flames that flew forward and covered his field of vision. The fires flickered upward and towards him, as if reaching for him with blacken tips and the darken mountain side lit up so suddenly that he had to bring up a hand to cover his eyes.

Quirrel gasped for breath as the flames thinned the air and lept back a short distance from the fires for more space as he looked around to where the Child had last been. The fires burned wildly around him, igniting everything and seemly reaching out as if trying to reduce everything within reach to cinders. He tried to stay low to the ground as the heat of the fires sweltered around the small enclose space. He wanted to stay somewhere near the center of the flames but they flickered violently all around, as if dancing on the very stone they burned and eating up the lumps of ashes that fell from the skies as fuel.

Even if the Child had conjured these fires, Quirrel couldn't help but wonder if even they would be able withstand the heat of the flames or the smoke of the fires.

A shout came from the somewhere on the other side of the flickering wall of flames and Quirrel chanced standing up just a bit, arching his neck to try and see past the brilliantly lit fires and dark smoke. He couldn't quite make out who's voice it was but if it was the Child's-

“HAA!” The God Tamer came flying through the fires, lance first and the tip of the blade pointed right at his chest. Quirrel brought up his nail as he moved to the side, pushing the nail as far from him as much as possible. He went to move behind her but small embers from the wall of fires lingered after the God Tamer's trail and threatened to scorch him should he get too close. The Scarlet flames started to leave burned scorch marks on the stone as a terrible stench arose from the crisped ashes to stain what little air he already had. As Quirrel shifted away from the God Tamer, his nail raised up and ready to deflect again as the heat radiating from shifting walls started to sting his previous burns.

The fires seemed to grow more and more erratic around them. Quirrel could only imagine how horrible a burn from the flames would be, no doubt it would be more then enough to burn through any armor.

At the thought, he glanced up at the God Tamer who had yet to charge at him since landing. She slowly moved her nail to brace against the ground and shifted her balance onto her weapon once more as she seemed to force herself to a standing position. The God Tamer leaned heavily on her nail, her breath came out in quick gasps as the wall of fire continued to burned fiercely behind her giving her a crimson highlight against its haunting glow. Some of the embers still clinging to her body and nail, burning away at her while her eyes glazed over.

She clawed at the wound on her leg, scraping off dried blood and bits of dirt as she pressed harder and harder onto the wound, new blood now oozing out sluggishly. Her eyes tightened from the pain,but no longer glazed and pointed straight at him with a hard focus.

“WHY,” she screeched, her voice cracking from the effort of speaking over the roar of the fires. “DID YOU TURN ON ME?”

“Why,” she fixed her balance and freed her nail from the ground, but kept it at her side. Quirrel thought he heard something fall from above them, but didn't turn to look. “would you strike at me, after everything that I had done for that creature, for you?!”

She stopped speaking, huffing for air now and wheezing from inhaling the dark smoke but she held herself still and stood tall and even proud despite it all.

She apparently expected an immediate answer from him.

Quirrel stayed still, crouching if anything to lower himself more to the ground and away from the rising fires and smoke. He didn't have to answer her really, she had no real authority over him to demand anything from him.

But still...

“You tried to maul them, cut down my Child. I don't need more of a reason then that.”

“That creature is an affront to the Kingdom! You saw its intentions, you see its abilities even now!” Her voice picked up as she spoke, the smile of an entertainer returning now of all times as one of her hands made a wide sweep around them, showing off the walls of fire that still burned. “Such a thing would not be and is not welcomed at Hallownest.

“Better to give it purpose where it can be accepted; as a properly tamed monstrosity, fit only to fight for the glory of the populous!” Her eyes shined through her helm, and open and wide and blind to the hole in her thigh and the fires around them. “Then rightfully disposed of, off the Kingdom's Edge and out of the Queen's land.”

“I've heard enough.” Quirrel mumbled to himself. The roar of the fires should of made it near impossible for the God Tamer to hear him, but she let out a harsh crackle of a laugh as if in reply. He switched the hold on his nail with a practiced twirl, the blade now parallel to his arm and no longer poised in front of him for deflecting but rather held for a dashing slash.

“Oh, how I've long to fight you,” the God Tamer almost sighed as she shifted her own stance, body twisting to the side with her nail held in both hands. “Such a mystery you were, and still are really. The way you walked, how you held yourself up at the Colosseum, did you think I didn't see it?”

The God Tamer starter to stalk around the edge of the fires, Quirrel saw how some of them flickered against her back but she hardly paid it any attention. “Such attention to detail, trying so hard to remain in the back and away from the spot light, but I saw through that ruse. I knew you would be more then you wanted to let on, even more so when the creature clutched to you with such fondness and such need.

“You're just like me.” She declared with an absolute voice. Quirrel felt dread crawl through him at the words.

“Although I would of preferred the air of the blood stained Colossem, the roar of the crowds rather then these flames to bare witness to this challenge,” She stopped and chuckled at herself. Quirrel could hear the grin that spread far across her face under the helm and he tightened his hold on his nail. “this sorry state of an area would just have to do for us tamers.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope ya'll are ready for a long one.  
> (by my standards at least.)


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